The Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA) yesterday published the new Residential Property Price Register. The Register may be accessed on www.propertypriceregister.ie
The Register has been produced by the Authority under the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011.
The Register includes information on residential properties purchased in Ireland since the 1st January 2010, as declared to the Revenue Commissioners for stamp duty purposes.
It contains the price paid for individual properties and contains details of all residential sales – both cash sales and sales with mortgage. The particulars published in the Register include the price, the date of sale and the address (including house number) of each residential property sold in Ireland since January 2010. The information will be updated on a regular basis and, for the most part, the information will be published within a month of the date of sale of the property.
The Register can be searched by reference to a number of criteria including all sales by county, city or town, individual property address and by year. Such a facility will enable members of the public to discover easily and quickly prices paid for properties sold in Ireland since January, 2010. It will provide buyers and sellers with a service they have previously lacked namely, accurate and up-to-date information on the market price of individual properties.
Following today’s launch, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Alan Shatter, TD, said: "The publication of the Residential Property Price Register fulfils a key Programme for Government commitment to improve the quality of information available on the Irish housing market by requiring that the selling price of all dwellings is recorded in a publicly available, national housing price database. The establishment of such a database was first recommended many years ago and in my first year in office I prioritised enactment of the Property Services Regulation Act 2011 to facilitate its establishment."
"In recent years, because of the steep downturn in the property market, it has been difficult to get accurate information on property prices. This uncertainty has led to a lack of investor confidence and has contributed to stagnation in the property market, particularly among first time buyers. The publication of the Register should help to remove some of this uncertainty, restore some confidence in the property market and provide transparency in residential property sale prices."
The Chairperson of the Property Services Regulatory Authority, Ms Geraldine Clarke, added, "I would like to acknowledge the speedy work done by the Authority to get the Property Price Register up and running on time and as promised. The Property Price Register will be of substantial assistance in helping people make decisions in relation to one of the most important purchases of their lives. The Authority will continue to play its part in ensuring that it provides the highest protection for consumers and that the highest standards are maintained in the industry."
It is important to note that the Register is not intended as a "Property Price Index". The details made available on the property register are limited to price, address and date of sale and do not include such details as property size or number of rooms. It is simply designed to provide, on an ongoing basis, accurate prices of residential properties purchased at a particular date.
